Venice
September 2006
Back in September 2006, we went to Venice, the uniquely watery city of Italy. Before we got there, I was most amused to see my own patisserie doing wonderfully well at the airport. We flew over on Wednesday 27th September, returning on Monday 2nd October.
When we got to Venice's Marco Polo airport, we decided, upon advice from friends, to try out the motorboat taxi. The guy's eyes look untrustworthy here, but we went ahead anyway.
It was a little bit windy on the back of the boat, which Lynne's well-coiffured hair failed to deal with adequately.
And, whilst my hair was gelled firmly in place, the high speed made a mess of my face.
As we got into the historic city of Venice, some of the buildings were stunningly lit up.
Ah, that's better. The next morning, the sky was blue and clear. And it gave us our first view of the canal.
Here is the local train station, which we didn't use (we used the boat taxi!).
Lynne is queen of all she surveys. Buildings and a canal, then.
Apart from the waterways, the main features of Venice were the grand architecture such as this...
...and this...
...and many squares in which to relax and enjoy a coffee, refreshing beer or glass of wine.
But Venice is famous for its waterways, and it didn't disappoint. This one is non-literally throbbing with gondolas.
And we arrived at St Mark's Square (or Piazza San Marco, if you like), with St Mark's Campanile soaring up into the sky on the right, and the Basilica in the background.
A closer shot of the immense Basilica.
The square is surrounded by these long, repetitive buildings, which have expensive cafés in front. It's worth spending a bit for a drink (or perhaps two) there, though; particularly when they play live music for you.
Like this.
Yup, the Campanile is pretty tall.
As the sun came down on a delightful first (full) day in Venice, it was time to retreat to a bar.
An amusing sign on the gents caught my eye.
Peroni on the table and football on the TV - what more could you want?
The next day, we munched on pizzas by the canal, enjoying a glass of fine, er, water. Cheers!
The narrow streets were often jam-packed with shops and shoppers, eager for a sale and a bargain respectively.
Speaking of which, Lynne eyes up some jewellery. Haven't we got somewhere to be?
Taking a photo of this bridge, I couldn't resist including these weird candles in the shot.
Another nice-looking building.
A scene inside (that building - I think).
The waterways seemed to have a unique colour.
It's a real shame I had to sell this place - it looks like it is doing well.
More soon.
Alright, maybe not soon. We often found a nice restaurant in a back street in which to eat, and drink wine (or beer).
A guy singing but not playing his guitar.
Another obligatory canal shot, this one more striking because of how narrow it is, and because this really is just the back of some houses or apartments - no back garden for them.
A well-stocked marketplace.
There were lots of busy, narrow pathways - it was a battle getting up these stairs at any speed.
Here is a view of the Basilica (or certainly something that looks very like it) from across the water.
It's very busy today on the waterfront on what appears to be a glorious day.
We were here for a reason: to go on a boat ride, which would take in a few nearby islands. Here we are on that boat ride.
On the first island, we watched someone make a glass bottle in front of our very eyes.
There were some very colourful buildings.
And Venice's own leaning tower.
Some people escaped in a motorboat as the sun bounced off the sea.
Moving on to page two.